A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains or may contain material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the photocopy reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure in exactly the form it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates in general to a gaming device, and more particularly to a gaming device providing a primary game with an outcome that is employed in a bonus or secondary game.
Base or primary gaming devices such as slot machines, video poker machines, blackjack machines and keno machines are well-known. Bonus or secondary games initiated as a result of an outcome of these primary games are also well known. Typically, the player""s performance in the primary game does not affect the player""s performance in the secondary game. That is, besides triggering the bonus game, the base game is normally different than the bonus game, and the two games operate independent of each other.
One known exception to this is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,255 B1, which discloses a xe2x80x9cbonus resourcexe2x80x9d that a player may obtain during the base game. The player can thereafter apply the bonus resource in the bonus game to override an event that would otherwise end the bonus round. In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,925 discloses a bonus game having a payout percentage that varies with the amount of the player""s base game wager.
In a further example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,894 B1 discloses a primary and a secondary game that both include slot machine reels and symbols. The number of paylines that the player plays in the base or main game determines the number of chances that the player has in the secondary or bonus game. In another embodiment of this patent, symbol combinations generated by the main game determine the number of chances that the player has in the secondary or bonus game.
While these known games allow a base component to affect the bonus game, the interaction between the secondary or bonus game and the base game outcomes is limited. A need therefore exists to provide a bonus game that more closely interacts with the base game. Further, slot machines and video poker machines make up the majority of existing gaming devices. Needless to say, both have become very popular. With the continuing demand for more entertaining and exciting gaming devices, a need exists to provide new types of games, such as a game having elements of both slot and poker.
The present invention provides a gaming device having a primary or base game that is adapted to generate a bonus or secondary game. The primary or base game includes any game having the ability to randomly generate symbols, such as a slot, poker, keno or black jack game. In one preferred embodiment, the primary game is slot. The slot game has a plurality of reels each having a plurality of symbols. When the player spins the reels, each reel stops and a number of symbols are displayed to the player. Each symbol is either a bonus triggering symbol or a non-bonus triggering symbol.
If the game randomly displays a predetermined number of bonus triggering symbols, the game thereafter displays or provides the bonus game of the present invention. In different embodiments, the game counts every bonus triggering symbol displayed along an active payline, along any payline, along a plurality of active paylines, along a plurality of paylines or in any position on the screen or display device. In one preferred embodiment, the game counts every bonus triggering symbol displayed on the screen, i.e., in a scatter pay arrangement.
In one embodiment, the display of four or five bonus triggering symbols triggers the bonus round, however, the game may be adapted for different numbers. In an embodiment, the game generates a bonus symbol for each bonus triggering symbol, so that when the game generates four bonus triggering symbols, it then generates four bonus symbols, etc. In one preferred embodiment, each bonus triggering symbol animates or morphs into a bonus symbol.
The game stores a number of different bonus symbols, each of which preferably relate to a theme of the present invention. In one preferred embodiment, the theme of the game is motorcycle daredevil jumping and the bonus symbols are x-rays of different broken bones of the rider. The number of different symbols may be adapted to provide different winning probabilities and in one preferred embodiment, the number of different bonus symbols is five or the largest number of bonus symbols that the game may generate for the player.
The game provides an award based on the combinations that the different bonus symbols form. In one preferred embodiment, the game provides an award for generating symbols xe2x80x9cof a kind,xe2x80x9d i.e., two symbols of a kind, three symbols of a kind, two pair, full house, etc. In this respect, the preferred embodiment resembles a poker game. Since the game is a bonus game, it preferably provides a small award or consolation prize for generating all different symbols or no symbols of a kind. In one embodiment, the bonus game displays a paytable that is preferably adapted for the number of bonus symbols that the player achieves. That is, the bonus game displays a paytable having a payout for generating five symbols of a kind when the player achieves five bonus triggering symbols and thus five bonus symbols, but not when the player only generates four bonus symbols.
Besides the xe2x80x9cof a kindxe2x80x9d combinations, the game may be adapted to use other combinations, such as adding numbers generated by the bonus symbols and subtracting a threshold number to determine the player""s award. When the main portion of the bonus game has been completed, the game optionally provides the player with an opportunity to increase or enhance the player""s award.
To increase the player""s award, the game contemplates using any sort of random generation device such as a spinning reel or wheel, or in one preferred embodiment, masking one or more award modifiers or multipliers behind the bonus symbols and enabling the player to select one or more symbols. If the player selects a lucky symbol, the game enhances or increases the award. The game then preferably reveals each bonus symbol to show what, if anything, the game has masked.
It is therefore an advantage of the present invention to provide a gaming device having a primary game with a bonus triggering event that affects the player""s outcome in a bonus game.
Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a gaming device having a primary game that generates a number of bonus triggering symbols, wherein the number of bonus triggering symbols affects the number of bonus symbols that the player achieves in the bonus game.
A further advantage of the present invention is to provide a bonus game having a number of symbols and a paytable that awards the player for achieving symbols xe2x80x9cof a kind.xe2x80x9d
Yet another advantage of the present invention is to provide a gaming device having elements of both slot and poker.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed disclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein like numerals refer to like parts, elements, components, steps and processes.